Masked
by Elmo226
Summary: Great story! Read it and you'll see what i mean! There is more to come shortly!
1. A New Year

Masked  
Chapter One  
  
Harry sat on the train, unaware of who was in the compartment next to  
  
his and the impact that they would have on his life. He sat innocently  
  
munching on some chocolate frogs. He glanced at the card and then shouted,  
  
"Look Ron! I got the card that you were missing!" Ron jumped up and  
  
scrambled over to Harry. He grabbed the card and shouted,  
  
"YES!!!!! It's Wendolin! He was the coolest wizard ever!"  
  
"What was he famous for anyway?" Harry asked Ron.  
  
"He was really powerful and he fought against the dark side. He  
  
almost killed You-know-who, but then he died. Everyone was really sad and  
  
so upset. No one talks about him anymore." Harry thought about this. "How  
  
long ago did he die?"  
  
"Oh he died before we were born." Ron told him. They talked about  
  
Wendolin for a while. Harry was in the middle of a sentence when the door  
  
burst open and a girl walked in. "Hermione! How are you? Where have you  
  
been?" Ron demanded.  
  
"Hey guys! I am great! I was in the next compartment talking to a new  
  
girl that it joining the school. She's a transfer from Beauxbatons. She's  
  
really nice!" Hermione said in one breath.  
  
"How was your summer Herm?" Harry asked.  
  
"Oh it was great! Victor and I went all over. We had a great time," she  
  
said with a huge smile. Ron's smile faded from his face and he started  
  
muttering things to himself.  
  
Neither Hermione nor Harry noticed, though, because they were  
  
absorbed in talking about their summers. They were so absorbed in what  
  
each other was saying that they didn't notice the conductor tell them that  
  
they would be arriving at Hogwarts soon and to, please, put on their school  
  
robes. After a while, Ron joined in the conversation, which had turned to the  
  
new shop in Hogsmeade. The train stopped and so they started to get off it.  
  
"Wait, we aren't in our robes!" Hermione noticed.  
  
"Shoot, mine are still on the train," said Ron.  
  
"Mine too," Harry agreed.  
  
"What are we going to do?" they wailed.  
  
"Oh I know," Ron said. "We will just transfigure your clothes into  
  
Hogwarts robes." Which Hermione promptly did. Harry's were a bit too  
  
small, and Ron's weren't as tattered as usual, but they were good enough.  
  
They rushed over to where the other fifth years were and climbed in an  
  
empty carriage.  
  
"That was close. Thanks for doing that Herm."  
  
"Anytime. Gees, you really need me to look out for you!" she replied,  
  
joking.  
  
Home again, at last, Harry thought to himself. It looks just like I  
  
remembered. I missed it so much. The others were having similar thoughts,  
  
thinking about the past years that they had spent at Hogwarts and wondering  
  
what would happen this year.  
  
Then Harry's thoughts turned to someone else. He pushed her out of  
  
his mind. I can't think about her now, he told himself. Luckily for him, Ron  
  
asked him about the Quidditch team, and who he thought was going to be  
  
the captain this year. Hermione sighed and looked out the window. They  
  
talked Quidditch for a while. Then they fell silent. Hermione stared out the  
  
window. Little did she know that her two best friends were staring at her  
  
with longing. She turned away from the window and, quickly, the averted  
  
their eyes.  
  
They reached the castle after a few minutes of almost complete  
  
silence.  
  
The three-some walked inside and sat themselves at the Gryffindor  
  
table. They talked for a few minutes and said hello to Lavender, Parvati,  
  
Seamus, Dean, and Neville. Finally, after what seemed like an hour, but was  
  
really only five minutes, the first years came in.  
  
They were little and scared. Harry was reminded very strongly of the  
  
feeling that he had felt when he was going up there for the first time, to be  
  
sorted. He wanted to make them feel better, to show them that it really  
  
wasn't that bad. He wanted to so much. He concentrated on the feeling of  
  
happiness and security. Harry couldn't tell if it was his imagination, but it  
  
looked to him like all the first years stood up a little straighter, smiled a little  
  
bit and walked along a little more confidently. Wondering if he had done  
  
this, he experimented a little.  
  
He sent a few little feelings of worry and anxiety to the one little kid  
  
nearest to him. They weren't very strong feelings, but he thought that he saw  
  
a few lines of worry creasing the little kid's face. He immediately sent a  
  
feeling of calmness and self-confidence to wipe out the worry. Harry was  
  
puzzled, but brushed off his thoughts as the sorting began.  
  
The sorting started with a new sing from the hat. Then the first kid  
  
was called up. Twenty minutes and eight new Gryffindors later, the first  
  
years were done being sorted. Professor Dumbledore came forward to make  
  
a beginning of the year speech. Instead he cleared his throat and said  
  
something else.  
  
"I would like to call up Miss Clélia Dubois. She is our transfer from  
  
Beauxbatons. Miss Dubois if you would have a seat on the stool please,"  
  
Dumbledore asked.  
  
A young, and quite pretty girl, walked forward. She was small and  
  
had dark auburn hair and pale skin. She sat herself delicately on the stool  
  
and pulled the hat over her head. It expanded to fit her head that was, though  
  
small, was larger than most first year's heads. She sat up there for a long  
  
time and people were beginning to wonder if she was ever going to get  
  
sorted. Finally, the hat called out. "Slytherin," it shouted. The Slytherin table  
  
exploded into thunderous applause and many whistles and cheers, especially  
  
from the boys in the crowd. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
"She's changed so much," Harry and Ron were talking about  
  
Hermione.  
  
"I have no idea what you are talking about," he replied, a little too  
  
quickly. Harry just smiled to himself and suggested that it was time for bed.  
  
Though Harry fell asleep almost instantly upon lying down, Ron lay awake  
  
for hours tossing turning.  
  
The next morning, a very tired Ron walked to breakfast with Harry  
  
and Hermione. They sat down and started piling their plates with food.  
  
Hermione felt someone watching her. She turned her head and saw the new  
  
girl, 'Clélia, I think', staring at her. 'Or was she staring at her?' Before  
  
Hermione could figure it out, a Hufflepuff walked in between them and  
  
when she could see Clélia again, she was talking to the other Slytherins.  
  
"What do you think of the new girl?" Hermione asked the boys  
  
"Who?" Ron was confused, "Oh her." He said when she pointed  
  
Clélia out. "Oh I dunno but she's a Slytherin." he said darkly.  
  
"Yeah but look at her" said Harry  
  
"Boys." Hermione muttered rolling her eyes.  
  
"Oh don't worry Hermione, you'll always be first in our hearts" joked  
  
Harry glancing at Ron who suddenly became very interested in his bacon  
  
and eggs.  
  
"Guys, it's time for Potions, we gotta run" said Hermione, changing  
  
the subject abruptly.  
  
They grabbed their bags and hurried out of the Great Hall. They  
  
dashed all the way to the dungeons. Ron and Hermione went to their normal  
  
seats. Harry went to seat in his but realized it was already occupied. He sat  
  
down on the other side of the girl.  
  
"Oh am I in your seat?" she asked quickly  
  
"No, it's okay" Harry replied  
  
"Well it better be, I wouldn't move anyway," she said, her voice  
  
suddenly turning cold.  
  
Harry was kind of surprised. "What was I thinking, she IS a Slytherin  
  
after all"  
  
The lesson went pretty smoothly until about halfway through when a  
  
loud bang was heard from a corner of the room.  
  
"What have you done now" snapped Snape.  
  
Neville only whimpered in response.  
  
"Ten points from Gryffindor. And Weasley, take him to the hospital  
  
wing." Snape yelled.  
  
"Weasley." Clélia whispered to herself as he pulled Neville out the  
  
door.  
  
"What are you doing?!" Harry practically screamed, "You almost put  
  
the porcupine quills in before the boomslang skin. That could have ruined  
  
our potion." Clélia didn't respond. She looked deep in thought. Harry  
  
wondered how a how a Slytherin could be so pretty. Suddenly he realized  
  
that he had been staring at her for a little too long. They finished the potion  
  
in silence.  
  
When it was time to pack up Harry was surprised to find he didn't  
  
want to go. Snape called out to the class, I hope you like your seats, because  
  
they will be your seats all year. Harry couldn't tell if this was a good thing or  
  
not.  
  
"The nerve. She took your seat, and now is going to sit there all year,"  
  
Hermione muttered as they left the dungeon.  
  
The three friends sat in the Gryffindor common room doing their  
  
homework, or at least they were supposed to be doing their homework.  
  
Instead, Harry and Ron were trying to enchant a hat so that it would show  
  
what people were thinking when they put it on. So far, all they had been able  
  
to do was turn it green. After a while they got bored of this and started to  
  
talk about Quidditch.  
  
"I'm gonna try out for keeper this year," Ron told harry.  
  
"Really? Practices would be so fun if you were on the team. Harry  
  
was so excited. Just then, Ginny walked passed them carrying her  
  
schoolbooks. She sat down at another table and started writing furiously.  
  
"Whatcha doing Gin?" Ron asked her. Ginny ignored him.  
  
"Ginny?" said Ron a little louder.  
  
"What?" she yelled back exasperated.  
  
"Gees calm down. I was just wondering what you were doing."  
  
"It's none of your business Ron. I'm not a little ten-year-old anymore.  
  
You don't have to take care of me." She told him before grabbing her stuff  
  
and moving to the other side of the common room.  
  
"Gosh, sometimes I wish I had a different sister." Ron muttered to  
  
Harry.  
  
Disclaimer: I own nothing! Everything is JK's. Except for Clélia. She's mine. 


	2. Detention?

Masked  
  
Chapter 2  
  
Thanks to everyone who reviewed the first chapter! And we promise to try and get the next chapter up soon! We already have it written, we just have to type it. Thanks for being so patient!  
  
Little note to all: Words in ' ' are thoughts not spoken words. Thanks!  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Clélia headed up to breakfast from the dungeons with Blaise Zambini. As they  
  
walked into the Great Hall, she saw him again, 'Weasley.There's something about  
  
him.' She shook her head and looked away.  
  
Breakfast at the Slytherin table was loud because of all the people talking to her  
  
for, even though she had only been at Hogwarts for one day, she was popular.  
  
Clélia walked to Transfiguration, trying to hear the end of Draco's story over the noise of  
  
the crowd. She hadn't expected it, but his story was really, quite fascinating. It was about  
  
a surprise party his nanny had thrown for him for his birthday when he was little. It had a  
  
sad ending because, Draco had lowered his voice for this part, his father had fired the  
  
nanny because of this. Clélia wondered why everyone was trying to be her friend and  
  
entrust her with information like Draco had.  
  
She entered the classroom and sat down between Draco and Blaise. 'These guys  
  
are better friends than I've ever had before. Maybe they would accept me for me.  
  
Maybe I don't have to pretend anymore.' Thoughts like these led to thoughts about her  
  
past, so she quickly redirected her mind to Professor McGonagall.  
  
Clélia waltzed through the rest of the day, talking and laughing with her newly  
  
made Slytherin friends. 'This isn't so bad,' she thought to herself as she finally collapsed  
  
into bed after a long, but fairly satisfying day.  
  
~  
  
'Oh man! Why did I have to choose THIS seat?' Clélia asked herself. 'Why  
  
couldn't I have chosen a seat near my friends?' She silently berated herself.  
  
'And now I'm suck here for the rest of the year!' Clélia was in such a bad mood  
  
that she didn't say anything to Harry when as she slammed her books down on their  
  
table. He gave her a look, but didn't say anything.  
  
"I would like to see how much you paid attention yesterday. Take out your notes  
  
and follow the instructions for the potion I told you about." Snape, like Clélia, was in a  
  
very bad mood. Harry and Clélia pulled out everything they needed. After a few sharp  
  
words between them, Clélia started measuring and Harry started chopping ingredients,  
  
now in silence. Pretty soon their cauldron was boiling and a surprisingly good smell was  
  
wafting out of it.  
  
Cauldrons all over the room were filling the air with sweet smells, spicy, like a  
  
kitchen smells right after someone finishes baking sticky buns in it.  
  
Suddenly, the liquid from Harry and Clélia's cauldron exploded all over the room and the  
  
cauldron fell over and spilled the remaining liquid all over the feet of the Slytherins.  
  
"Potter! What have you done this time?" Snape whispered harshly. Apparently he  
  
couldn't speak louder than a whisper due to a certain amount of the potion that had gotten  
  
in his mouth. "Everyone who was hit, come here for the antidote. And Potter, a weeks  
  
worth of detention for causing this disruption."  
  
"Professor, it wasn't his fault," Clélia said as she made her way up to the front  
  
with a rapidly shrinking right hand and left leg, which caused her to limp quite a bit. "I  
  
put the snake fangs in too early." Harry wondered why she was saying this, even though  
  
it was true. Who would correct Snape? And get themselves in trouble at the same time?  
  
"Then you will be joining Mr. Potter in detention for five days also."  
  
"Professor." Harry began to speak but was quickly cut off by Snape.  
  
"Yes, Potter, you still have a week of detention. You should have been paying  
  
attention to what your partner was doing."  
  
Harry, who was used to this kind of unfairness, accepted his punishment. Clélia,  
  
however, couldn't believe how Snape was favoring her. Harry could tell she was  
  
surprised and muttered under his breath, "Forget about it. He's always like this."  
  
Since he wasn't looking forward to his detention, Harry's day sped by unnaturally  
  
fast.  
  
Harry, Ron, and Hermione sat in their favorite chairs in the Gryffindor common  
  
room that evening. Harry and Ron were talking about enchanting a hat so that it would  
  
show your thoughts across the brim whenever you were wearing it. So far they had only  
  
gotten it to turn green and flash every few seconds. Hermione, who was getting bored of  
  
this, checked the time and looked at Harry.  
  
"Harry, shouldn't you be in detention now?" Harry only widened his eyes and ran  
  
out of the room, hearing a faint "Good luck" from Ron as he rushed towards the  
  
dungeons. He met Clélia at the door of Snape's classroom and when they entered they  
  
were surprised to see that Professor Sinistra was waiting for them.  
  
"Come on, my dears. You have a long detention ahead of you and I don't want to  
  
spend anymore time down here than I have to." Professor Sinistra started leading them  
  
towards the Astronomy Tower. After a five-minute walk, they reached the tower where  
  
she handed them a star chart and told them what they were to do.  
  
"See these two planets? You have to make sure they don't switch places, and if  
  
they do, write down the date and time. You will know if they have switched places  
  
because the one that should be to the north has a reddish glow, and the other should be  
  
more yellow. I will be back for you at two o' clock." She disappeared down the stairs.  
  
"Oh great! Four hours of doing nothing." Clélia sighed.  
  
"What? Would you rather hang out with your Slytherin friends?" Harry said  
  
sarcastically, "What about spending time with your wonderful lab partner?" She snorted  
  
at his comment. They sat in silence for a while, but after about half an hour or so they got  
  
bored and started talking.  
  
"So, Who's that Weasley kid you hang out with?" Clélia asked.  
  
"Who, Ron?" Harry was confused.  
  
"Yeah, I guess." Clélia tried to sound casual, but even to her own ears, her voice  
  
sounded squeaky.  
  
"Why do you want to know?"  
  
"I dunno, it's just something to talk about." Clélia shrugged.  
  
"Well then, how about we talk about you. I mean, you're the new student here." Harry didn't know why he was being so mean.  
  
"What do you wanna know about me?" she asked, surprised that someone was interested in her.  
  
"You know, what you like about it here, who your friends are, who your favorite  
  
teacher is, what it was like at your old school, what you family's like, you know, just tell  
  
me about yourself." His curiosity about her overcame his suspicions about her being a Slytherin.  
  
"Well," she began, "My name is Clélia Dubois. I am 15. I used to live in France  
  
and go to Beauxbatons. I came last year for the Triwizard tournament. I loved watching  
  
it. I like astronomy the best. My favorite teacher is Flitwick. I think that was it."  
  
"What about your family?" Harry figured that she had just forgotten.  
  
"Well my mother's name is Adeline. She hasn't always been there for me. She's  
  
hard to live with sometimes. She doesn't understand. She expects too much. She's  
  
harsh." Clélia said this all in one breath and was just getting started, but then she said,  
  
"Why am I telling you this?" She answered herself silently, 'Because you had to tell  
  
someone. And he listened, well then again, how could he not. We ARE in detention  
  
together. But he gave me the chance. And he asked. He wanted to know.'  
  
Her face showed none of her emotions, but tears rolled down her cheeks. She  
  
angrily flicked them off her face.  
  
Harry didn't know what to do. He sat next to her and waited till the tears stopped.  
  
As the tears subsided, the talking started up again. They talked about this and that,  
  
everything and anything, except for Clélia's family.  
  
Their conversation turned back to what they were supposed to be doing.  
  
"I don't know why Professor Sinistra wants us to watch these two. They haven't  
  
switched in at least 10 years," Clélia told Harry.  
  
It was getting close to two am. "I take it the Slytherins don't like you,"  
  
Clélia said. Harry smiled at her words.  
  
"No, not really."  
  
"They probably won't like it that I am on speaking terms with you."  
  
"They don't have to know. Just make sure you don't slip and say anything!"  
  
Harry joked with her.  
  
"I won't." Clélia's eyes grew dark for a second, but they cleared before Harry  
  
thought anything of it. Professor Sinistra walked in and told them that they were finished  
  
and could be dismissed. After handing her the chart and leaving the tower, they both  
  
agreed that she sounded way to awake for this late, or early, depending how you look at  
  
it. They both broke into laughter, which soon turned into yawns. They bid each other  
  
goodnight and went to their separate common rooms.  
  
Clélia couldn't sleep, although she was really tired. She was thinking about what  
  
happened during the detention. Harry had actually listened to her, and cared about what  
  
she had said. No one had ever done this. She had never confided like this to anyone  
  
either. He also shared his mind and his views.  
  
When Clélia finally fell asleep, it was with a smile on her face, a smile so wide  
  
that, when she woke up the next morning, her face hurt from smiling so hard.  
  
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~  
  
Well, that all, folks! Anyway, we (the authors) are so sorry about how long it took us to do this (like two years or something). We have had to work on this during moves, relocations, new homes, and new schools. It's been difficult but we have finally found a way to make this work! Hope you like this! The next chapter should be up in not too long a time! ~1/2 of Elmo 


End file.
